Winter Camp Wonderings

Winter Camp has come and gone. All the planning and scheduling is finally over and now we get to reap the benefits. It has been so encouraging to see the growth displayed by our students. While we have grown numerically, the spiritual growth has been fantastic. Personally, it has been a struggle to see people leave the church for various reasons. As a person in ministry, you always wonder if you had something to do with it. On the other hand, seeing growth within a ministry is humbling because you know God has used you to accomplish something special.

Right now I'm listening to Worship God Live from sovereign grace. The lyrics are so encouraging because they express an unashamed, Christ-exalting, God-honoring, Calvinistic approach to song writing. The writers take their texts right from historical writings on the Bible as well as directly from the Bible itself and they strive to make God as big as we possibly can with out limited human abilities. That is something lacking in today's CCM music. Lyrics typically come from personal experience or personal testimony about what the Bible means to them. Songs should be grounded in theology, not man-centered, self-help thinking. We need more Luther, Calvin, and Edwards in our songs and less Joel Osteen and Rick Warren.

Here are some lyrics that express what I'm talking about:

You are the Way

by Pat Sczebel

Verse 1

Dead in transgressions and sins, without God without hope in this world

Then the glorious light of Your gospel broke in

The Father stood up from His throne, opened His arms and called out my name

Grace irresistible drew me, opened my eyes to see

Chorus:

You are the way, You are the truth, You are the Life, Jesus

The only way, the only truth, You are my life, Jesus

Verse 2

You are the source of new life, the giver of every good thing

Withholding nothing You lavish Your kindness on me.

You emptied Yourself, became poor, humbled and poured out to death

Now highly exalted above all, Your name alone can save.

Justified

Verse 1
To gain a people, a holy bride,
Christ was humbled and left His Father’s side.
He lived and died to honor God alone
and now He sits beside Him at His throne.
From every nation, from every creed
Soon all before Him will bow on bended knee.
For He is King over earth and heav’n
And to that kingdom there will be no end

Chorus
The wrath of God is satisfied for us
Christ’s sacrifice has proven He is just
The death He died has given us new life
Christ paid the price, now we can be justified

Verse 2
Though we were fallen and dead in sin
He called a people that could not choose Him.
And if He calls we cannot reject,
For with His blood He saved our souls from death
This gift of grace that paid the price for me
Has cleansed my heart and set me free.
In bondage I was chained, a slave to sin.
But now my will is captive, owed to Him

This song encapsulates why I love Christ. That he would choose to die for declared enemies... How can I not be bound to do His will?